Joachim Lambek

Joachim 'Jim' Lambek was a Canadian mathematician, born on December 5, 1922, in Leipzig, Germany, and passed away on June 23, 2014, in Montréal. He was a Peter Redpath Emeritus Professor of Pure Mathematics at McGill University. Lambek's academic journey began in Germany, but he became a refugee in England and was later interned in Canada. During his internment, he began a mathematical apprenticeship. He eventually settled in Montreal, pursued studies at McGill University, and earned his PhD in 1950 under Hans Zassenhaus, becoming McGill's first mathematics PhD graduate. He rose through the academic ranks at McGill, becoming a full professor in 1963. A sabbatical year in Zurich led him to reorient his research towards category theory. Lambek retired in 1992 but remained active in his department. His scholarly work spanned various fields, including module theory, torsion theories, non-commutative localization, and injective modules. He is particularly noted for the Lambek calculus, which applies mathematical logic to natural language syntax, and for establishing connections between typed lambda calculus and cartesian closed categories (the Curry-Howard-Lambek correspondence). His later work focused on pregroups and pregroup grammar. He supervised numerous doctoral students and had a prolific publication record, including several books. In recognition of his contributions, a festschrift was published in 2000, and a tribute collection was released on his 90th birthday. He was awarded the Jeffery–Williams Prize in 1988.